


staying strong

by Snowy_Cas



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Concerned Merlin, Fluff, Hidden Injury, Hurt Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, No Angst, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27288709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snowy_Cas/pseuds/Snowy_Cas
Summary: Arthur isn't doing as good as he says he is.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 130
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	staying strong

“Arthur, you slowpoke, come on!” Merlin called from up ahead on his horse. His name calling earned a few laughs from the knights. Merlin smiled, proud of the joke.

“Yeah, princess, you’ve been quite sluggish since the bandits,” Gwaine added, although he was less teasing than Merlin. There was a hint of concern in his voice, and he stopped his horse to give Arthur his full attention. The rest of the knights and Merlin followed his lead. Merlin stopped smiling and tilted his head. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Arthur was not alright.

He’d sustained an injury to the right side of his chest when a group of bandits had attacked them. It wasn’t bad at first, but as time went on, the wound stung more and more and he grew exhausted, maybe from the blood loss. He wasn’t going to show his weakness, though. As the king, he had to set a certain example for his knights. He had to be strong and keep going no matter what.

With a smile plastered on his face, Arthur responded, “Yes, I’m just a little tired after the day's events.” 

Gwaine didn’t look entirely convinced, but he shrugged, then flicked the reins of his horse and continued on. Merlin hung back this time and trotted at Arthur’s side.

“You know,” he started, “If anything really is wrong, you can tell me.” Arthur scoffed. “My job is to protect and serve you, Arthur, not judge you.”

“Are you saying you don’t judge me?” Arthur asked with as much humor in his voice as he could muster.

Merlin laughed, “Well, that part of the sentence may not be the most accurate, but the rest is.”

Arthur nodded. His grip on the reins was starting to slacken and he was even more weary. “Thank you Merlin, but I’m fine, really.

The worried look on Merlin’ face was the last thing he saw before he felt himself slipping off his horse and hitting the ground.

“Arthur?” Merlin’s voice was echoing. What was going on? Were they in a cave? Merlin repeated, “Hey, Arthur?” His voice was becoming more clear. Arthur groaned, and blearily opened his eyes, then took in his surroundings.

He was lying in his bed in the chambers, his shirt gone and chest bandaged. He felt much better, the injury hardly even seemed to be bleeding. Looking at the wrappings, it must’ve been the work of Gaius, but when had they gotten back to Camelot? Merlin sat beside Arthur on the bed with a damp cloth in his hands, and his face lit up when he saw that Arthur was awake.

He breathed out a sigh of relief, then said mockingly, “ _ I’m fine, really _ .”

“Shut up, Merlin,” Arthur responded with fondness.

Merlin let out a chuckle and dabbed Arthur’s forehead with the cloth. “You know, you really had me scared there for a second. You fell right off your horse, and I didn’t know if you were going to get back up.” 

“You were worried about me?”

“I always am.” 

Arthur blushed, then he reached up and took the cloth out of Merlin’s hand and discarded it off to the side. Merlin started to protest, but cut himself off when Arthur intertwined their fingers. They smiled at each other shyly.

“Thank you, Merlin.”


End file.
